New Family Member

Part Two-What's In a Name

Joe was enjoying every moment of holding his infant daughter while Taylor took a few candid pictures with her phone. Taylor smiled watching Joe with the baby, smiling at how happily in love he looked while looking down at her. Taylor put her phone away, took a few sips of her water before she settled back down in the hospital bed and made herself as comfortable as possible. Labour and giving birth was not an easy task, no matter how many children she bore into this world. Situating herself in a comfortable position Taylor winced slightly before resting her head against the pillow.
Joe looked up at Taylor, reluctantly pulling his eyes away from the baby to ensure Taylor was ok. "Love, you alright? Can I help you at all?" He asked, noticing her fidget in the bed and winced in pain.
"No, I'm fine, in pain, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm ok, thank you for checking." She said with a soft and tired smile. She reached her hand out for Joe, "Come sit with me, or bring the chair closer so I can see you both." She suggested softly so they could be close, finding it funny that even after carrying the baby for nearly nine months, she still was eager to be near her and wanted to be close with both the baby and Joe.
Joe happily obliged and moved the chair closer to Taylor's hospital bed. Though he wanted to sit with Taylor on the bed, she had just gotten herself comfortable enough to relax and he wasn't about to disturb her. After sitting closer he held the baby in one arm, and his other hand held Taylor's hand. Placing soft kisses on her knuckles occasionally and running his thumb over the back of her hand.
Taylor smiled at his affection, and smiled at their little bundle of joy. "She's so cute, and already so good. Quiet compared to the boys. Both of them were born crying." She said with a soft laugh as she shook her head. "Maybe she's going to be the quiet one, like you." Taylor teased and Joe shook his head gently with laughter.
"It's the quiet ones you have to look out for, you know that." Joe teased back playfully and looked back down at the baby. "But not this little angel, no. She's perfect. She's going to be Daddy's little love, so perfect and angelic." He said as though talking directly to the baby.
Taylor giggled softly. She watched Joe talk to the baby a little more before she spoke again. "We still need to decide on her name. We can't keep calling her perfect, she grow up with some inferiority complex."
Joe chuckled at her comment about an inferiority complex. He smiled before looking back to Taylor with a sigh, "Well I suppose you're right. But we still don't seem to agree on anything," he reminds her.
Taylor scrunches her nose playfully and sighs softly. "I still really like Evelyn or Eleanore...." She says in a pleading manner while Joe makes a face in disgust and shakes his head. "Tell me what's wrong with

them, I don't understand why you don't like them?" Taylor laughed at Joe's dislike for her name choice. "There is nothing wrong with those names, if she were a mid-aged retired woman." He scoffs back lightly with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
Taylor rolled her eyes and shook her head playfully, "We can call her Evie or Ellie...."
"Then why not just name her Evie or Ellie then? I don't want to age our infant with an old lady name." Joe laughs and sighs now remembering why they had yet to decide on a name before the child was even born. Joe looked back up at Taylor then back to his daughter. "To be honest, I still would like to name her Alison, after her Mum. I'm sure your mum would love that too." He adds trying to encourage her to consider her own name.
Taylor sighs and laughs. "We've been having this same conversation since we found out she was a girl!" She said, shaking her head with a tired smile. Just as she was about to open her mouth to suggest another name there was a quick knock at the door before it slowly opened again.
"Hello, I am so sorry to disturb you both, but we need to finish the baby's initial exam, is that ok?" The nurse asked politely as she washed her hands. Joe looked over at Taylor who smiled and silently agreed with Joe that the baby did need to go with the nurse to ensure she was healthy and doing well.
Joe stood up with the newborn in his arms and handed her to the nurse. She smiled and thanked him before taking her to the exam table. "Do you have a name for her yet?" The nurse asked innocently, which only made Taylor and Joe look at each other and start laughing.
Joe shook his head as he rubbed his chin with embarrassment. "Actually no, we are still trying to decide on that...."
The nurse smiled at the new parents and laughed softly. "That's ok. Take your time, when you do decide we will fill out her birth certificate ." She said while unwrapping the baby gently. "She seems very calm!" She added softly and was pleasantly surprised when the baby didn't start crying.
Taylor watched from her bed, anxiously watching everything she could to make sure her daughter was in good hands. "Yes, she is, isn't she," she said softly before adding, "actually, we haven't heard her cry yet. At all. Is she ok? I'm concerned something might be wrong, both our sons cried right away and she has been so quiet." Taylor was slowly getting anxious again about her daughter's health.
Joe quickly was at Taylor's side, taking a seat beside her on the bed and grabbing her hand and holding it tightly. "Love, stay calm, she's fine." He whispers to her and looks over to where the nurse was with the baby, getting anxious himself over the idea that they truly haven't heard the baby cry at all.
The nurse smiled back at the parents and nodded. "She looks great to me. We'll have the doctor come in in just a moment to verify, but it does happen from time to time. It isn't very common, but some babies are very calm and quiet when they are born. You may just be very lucky- but I'm sure she will cry sooner rather than later. Especially once we start the exam, most babies are not a fan of that process." The nurse explained calmingly, knowing her tone of voice would dictate how the parents reacted. She had been working in Labour and Delivery long enough to pick up on parents' concerns and know how to keep them as calm as possible until there was a real reason for concern.
Joe looks back to Taylor with a reassuring smile, and squeezes her hand gently. Joe pulls himself closer to Taylor and gives her head a soft kiss before looking back into her eyes and smiling. "She's fine love, let's